Deanna, My Braveheart is only in its second year and it did suffer badly from that big Easter Freeze. In fact, I was starting to get worried about it, but recently it has snapped out of its post-freeze funk and is looking like the rose I was so excited about last summer. However, like my other frozen roses, it is a bit shorter this year. Just hasn't had time to get back fully into its regular growing pattern. Presently it is about 3x3, but I think it should grow to be closer to 4x4. That said, I can report that the blooms are a lovely red that stays red; it blooms fairly regularly (hopefully even better next year--if we don't have another horrendous freeze!), and the blooms are long-lasting. It's been very hot here recently, but it handled the heat quite well--a bit of a burn around the edges, but nothing too serious. (I have other roses that just about burned up completely in our 100+ heat.) As for disease, it had quite a few problems as it struggled to recover from the Big Freeze, but now that it is thriving again, I'm seeing very little disease. That is how I remember it from last summer. I think last year I sprayed it a couple times in the spring and a couple times in the fall, and that was all. I'm so happy it is returning to "normal" again because I really, really like this rose. I think you will like it. Kate

Any updates/comments on Coupe d'Hebe? In the catalogue of Francia Thauvin, they, too, describe it as having "feilliage vert clair",as opposed to "vert noiratre"! Also,Lynette/oldrosarian what exactly do you mean by a "rich diet"? What do you serve YOUR roses? How exactly do you provide a rich diet for a rose? I am very interested in knowing details, since I struggle so much with soil issues in my garden, and am trying to focus a lot on soil improvement.

I went to my new dentist today and everything went fine, as far as I could tell, but I would have liked to have seen the X-rays myself to examine the quality and resolution of them. I could tell a huge difference in the X-rays I got in MDR and the ones I got in Desert Hot Springs, which is why the dentist in DHS could tell that I did not need a root canal. No upselling at the new dentist's office, and I think the only thing extra they sell is teeth whitening, which they did not even mention to me. The office is not in an particularly upscale neighborhood - houses in the area sell for only $1.3M, which is low for the Westside. It took less than 3 minutes to get to his office because I made the traffic light green, and the office is only a mile from my house. My only complaint was that there was soft-rap music in the waiting room, which did not make me feel more comfortable. I prefer offices with no music at all, but the music at Ralphs market is worse - it sounds like the screaming vocalists on American Idol. Screaming does not make you a good vocalist. In public places, I prefer instrumental music, if they must have any music at all. In one dentist's office, I told him to turn off the TV while I was there, as I was unable to mute the commercials. I can be entertained/distracting by looking out of the windows.

Kimberly fern, Nephrolepis obliterata, and its close relative Boston fern, are tricky to keep happy indoors. They suffer from the low humidity present in most homes so you will need to counteract that by supplying the humidity for them by a daily (or more frequent) misting or by placing the pot on a deep saucer filled with pebbles - to elevate the pot - and a constant level of water.